Like many people who love to travel, I’m sure at some point in time you have probably sat down and counted how many countries you have visited. But what you’ve possibly not been able to do so easily, is use this information – and more – to learn more about your past and future travel adventures. Now of all that is easy with the new Visited travel app, co-founded by husband and wife team, Brian and Anna Kayfitz.
Selecting which countries you’ve been to with the app is really simple. You just search for them from the list and select a button to say that you’ve been. You can also select where you live and which countries are on your wishlist. The colours can all be customised to your preference but the default is yellow for where you live, blue for where you’ve been and red for where you’d like to visit. This very quickly allows you to produce a map like the one you see above, which you can move around and display at different scales.
It doesn’t stop there, though. Once you’ve selected all the countries you’ve visited, the app will tell you how many countries you’ve been to, what percentage of the world you have covered (I believe this is a % calculated from the total number of countries and territories listed in the app, rather than any estimation of the % of the world’s land mass) and how you rank alongside other users of the app. It will even show you which countries are the most visited by citizens of where you reside.
Of course, there are no prizes for visiting more countries than someone else, nor does it make you a better traveller. I would personally always advocate spending more time in a country than necessarily trying to ‘tick off’ another country just for the sake of it. That said, I would be lieing if I didn’t admit to getting at least a little excited when I am about to visit a country for the first time.
I would just suggest that people use the information for their own personal enjoyment and interest, to work out where they have been and where they might like to visit in the future, rather than for any bragging rights. And the app is great for that. Click on the ‘Inspirations’ section, and you’ll be presented with ideas galore… as I go through right now, I’m being presented with Split (Croatia), Mount Cook (New Zealand), Breakaways (South Australia), Paros (Greece), Ohio Countryside (Ohio)… and so on… each accompanied by a beautiful photograph. I can say, very simply, whether I want to visit or whether I’ve already been, or I can simply skip to the next suggestion. As you make your selections, each is saved and noted, so the app learns more and more about your travel preferences the more you use the app.
And it doesn’t stop there. Click on the ‘Lists’ section and you’ll be presented with popular hiking trails, pyramids, art museums, capitals of the world and more.
I went through the ‘Wonders of the World’ list and was able to learn that I’d only been to 19.1% of the listed wonders. Again, it’s not a contest, of course, to visit them all, but it can be quite humbling to realise that, even if you’re quite an experienced traveller, there’s so much more of the world still to see and explore.
The Visited travel app is free of charge and available to download from the Apple Store and from Google Play. In-app purchases are available (for example, you can unlock a city map so that you can add pins to the cities you have visited). We loved using it and hope you will too.
This post is sponsored by the Visited travel app.
Paul Johnson is Editor of A Luxury Travel Blog and has worked in the travel industry for more than 30 years. He is Winner of the Innovations in Travel ‘Best Travel Influencer’ Award from WIRED magazine. In addition to other awards, the blog has also been voted “one of the world’s best travel blogs” and “best for luxury” by The Daily Telegraph.
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16 Comments
Despite your fine words there’s always going to be a buzz to collecting another stamp in your passport.
Long, long ago I marched a school trip across the French – Belgian border on a quiet country road so that twenty pupils could get another stamp in their passport.
Not only were they excited but the border officials loved it too as it had been a very quiet Sunday morning.
Yes, and I completely understand that… I myself am always interested and excited to visit somewhere new, but nowadays I wouldn’t visit somewhere for this reason alone (although I do confess to visiting Sweden for the day, from Norway, just so I could say I’d been, when I was travelling solo in my teens – a long time ago now!).
Such a great idea that I’m astounded that no one’s done this before. Then again it’s always the simple ideas that are the winners.
I believe there have been websites where you can do this for some years, but the ability to do it through an app is so much neater and means the information is more easily to hand, I think.
Some of my mates have forgotten their gap years. This app might help them to remember where they went.
I never took a gap year, but did go interrailing around Europe for a couple of months when I was younger. It was a great experience and an opportunity to visit multiple countries relatively inexpensively.
Would I be able to use it to count up which USA states I’ve visited?
I would imagine this might one day be a paid option. You can already unlock a ‘city map’ for just £2.99 and add pins to the cities you have visited.
It’s not that I’ve visited dozens of countries, the fact is that my travels, beginning with my parents taking me on holiday, are spread over more than sixty years. This app would be a great memory jogger.
If you’ve been travelling that long, Chris, you might be pleasantly surprised by how many countries you’ve actually visited!
It’s the digital version of the pins on maps that travellers use to mark where they’ve been and their next destinations. Just might check out this app and see how much I’ve seen of the world, or for that matter the region where I am.
Selecting which countries you’ve been to with the app is really simple. You just search for them from the list and select a button to say that you’ve been. You can also select where you live and which countries are on your wishlist. The colours can all be customised to your preference but the default is yellow for where you live, blue for where you’ve been and red for where you’d like to visit. This very quickly allows you to produce a map like the one you see above, which you can move around and display at different scales.
Selecting which countries you’ve been to with the app is really simple. You just search for them from the list and select a button to say that you’ve been. You can also select where you live and which countries are on your wishlist. The colours can all be customised to your preference but the default is yellow for where you live, blue for where you’ve been and red for where you’d like to visit. This very quickly allows you to produce a map like the one you see above, which you can move around and display at different scales.
It doesn’t stop there, though. Once you’ve selected all the countries you’ve visited, the app will tell you how many countries you’ve been to, what percentage of the world you have covered (I believe this is a % calculated from the total number of countries and territories listed in the app, rather than any estimation of the % of the world’s land mass) and how you rank alongside other users of the app. It will even show you which countries are the most visited by citizens of where you reside.
Of course, there are no prizes for visiting more countries than someone else, nor does it make you a better traveller. I would personally always advocate spending more time in a country than necessarily trying to ‘tick off’ another country just for the sake of it. That said, I would be lieing if I didn’t admit to getting at least a little excited when I am about to visit a country for the first time.
I would just suggest that people use the information for their own personal enjoyment and interest, to work out where they have been and where they might like to visit in the future, rather than for any bragging rights. And the app is great for that. Click on the ‘Inspirations’ section, and you’ll be presented with ideas galore… as I go through right now, I’m being presented with Split (Croatia), Mount Cook (New Zealand), Breakaways (South Australia), Paros (Greece), Ohio Countryside (Ohio)… and so on… each accompanied by a beautiful photograph. I can say, very simply, whether I want to visit or whether I’ve already been, or I can simply skip to the next suggestion. As you make your selections, each is saved and noted, so the app learns more and more about your travel preferences the more you use the app.
And it doesn’t stop there. Click on the ‘Lists’ section and you’ll be presented with popular hiking trails, pyramids, art museums, capitals of the world and more.
I went through the ‘Wonders of the World’ list and was able to learn that I’d only been to 19.1% of the listed wonders. Again, it’s not a contest, of course, to visit them all, but it can be quite humbling to realise that, even if you’re quite an experienced traveller, there’s so much more of the world still to see and explore.
The Visited travel app is free of charge and available to download from the Apple Store and from Google Play. In-app purchases are available (for example, you can unlock a city map so that you can add pins to the cities you have visited). We loved using it and hope you will too.
This post is sponsored by the Visited travel app.
Despite your fine words there’s always going to be a buzz to collecting another stamp in your passport.
Long, long ago I marched a school trip across the French – Belgian border on a quiet country road so that twenty pupils could get another stamp in their passport.
Not only were they excited but the border officials loved it too as it had been a very quiet Sunday morning.
Yes, and I completely understand that… I myself am always interested and excited to visit somewhere new, but nowadays I wouldn’t visit somewhere for this reason alone (although I do confess to visiting Sweden for the day, from Norway, just so I could say I’d been, when I was travelling solo in my teens – a long time ago now!).
Such a great idea that I’m astounded that no one’s done this before. Then again it’s always the simple ideas that are the winners.
I believe there have been websites where you can do this for some years, but the ability to do it through an app is so much neater and means the information is more easily to hand, I think.
Some of my mates have forgotten their gap years. This app might help them to remember where they went.
I never took a gap year, but did go interrailing around Europe for a couple of months when I was younger. It was a great experience and an opportunity to visit multiple countries relatively inexpensively.
Would I be able to use it to count up which USA states I’ve visited?
I would imagine this might one day be a paid option. You can already unlock a ‘city map’ for just £2.99 and add pins to the cities you have visited.
It’s not that I’ve visited dozens of countries, the fact is that my travels, beginning with my parents taking me on holiday, are spread over more than sixty years. This app would be a great memory jogger.
If you’ve been travelling that long, Chris, you might be pleasantly surprised by how many countries you’ve actually visited!
It’s the digital version of the pins on maps that travellers use to mark where they’ve been and their next destinations. Just might check out this app and see how much I’ve seen of the world, or for that matter the region where I am.
Exactly that, Jorden… try it out! :-)
I can see this app being very useful on my travels. Either on my way to somewhere new or reminiscing about places I’ve already been.
Exactly, Matt… it’s just nice to have a neat, personal record. And it’s all very easy to do.
I can see the app being a great way of prodding your memories of half forgotten trips.
Exactly, Gary… it’s easy to forget just how many trips you’ve been on as you get older!